In one way, I suppose, I have been 'in denial' for some time, knowingly burning the candle at both ends and finding that it often gives a lovely light.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the struggle between self-awareness and the consequences of overextending oneself.
Christopher Hitchens acknowledges his awareness of the unsustainable nature of living life 'burning the candle at both ends'. While he recognizes that this lifestyle may bring temporary joy and illumination, it ultimately leads to denial about the toll it takes on one's well-being.
In practice
During a motivational talk about work-life balance, one might reference this quote to illustrate the dangers of overworking.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Intellectual generalities are always interesting, but generalities in morals mean absolutely nothing.
Every act of every man is a moral act, to be tested by moral, and not by economic criteria.
Assume that people are good until you actually and specifically learn differently. And even then, know that they have potential for change and that you can help them out.
The only theism worthy of our respect believes in God not because of the way the world is made but in spite of that. The only theism that is no less profound than the Buddha's atheism is that represented in the Bible by Job and Jeremiah.
Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone - except God.
Ever since the Enlightenment, people thought that we were living in a rational universe. They thought that God was a mathematician and that the function of the scientist was to figure out the mathematical rules whereby the universe was created.
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